The present invention relates to nanostructured composite materials which are suitable for the application in biosensors, and to biosensors comprising those nanostructured composite materials.
A nanostructured composite material (nanocomposite) is a composite material in which at least one of the phases has at least one dimension which is of the order of nanometers.
A biosensor is a device that uses specific biochemical reactions mediated by a receptor selected from the group consisting of isolated enzymes, microorganisms, immunosystems, tissues, organelles, whole cells, antibodies, nucleic acids and combinations thereof to detect chemical compounds (analytes) usually by means of electrical, thermal or optical signals. Within the biosensor, the receptor is coupled to a transducer by means of immobilization.